"Let's take it into Saturday"

Adam Le Fondre says that scoring against Manchester United was something he had dreamt about since he was a boy - but was ultimately disappointed that a courageous Royals performance wasn't fully rewarded.

Reading were ahead against the league-leaders twice during an extraordinary first half of football, and Le Fondre felt that at times the Royals really dominated the club he once supported.

"We had a top team on the ropes throughout the game," Alfie pointed out. "We created good chances from set-pieces, got in front but unfortunately couldn't quite hold on.

"When you play against that sort of opposition you expect a tight game but it didn't really play out that way. It was end to end, loads of chances, but we're disappointed that we were on the wrong end of the result.

"To score against United was something I dreamt about as a kid. But ultimately, it's a results business and my goal doesn't take anything away from the game because we got beat."

The Saints are up next for Brian McDermott's men - and Alfie spoke confidentially about the Saturday's trip to Hampshire after an encouraging display from the Royals.

"I think we can take heart from the performance and take it into the coming games," Le Fondre added.

"Every game is important in this league and every game is a tough test. But if we play against Southampton like we did on Saturday then we'll be okay."